‘The very essence of playfulness is an openness to anything that may happen, the feeling that whatever happens, it’s okay…you are either free to play, or you are not.’ - John Cleese
Picture taken at the studio of the artist duo DAY Collective in Amsterdam
When was the last time you felt playful?
Have you noticed the feeling of openness which arises in a state of playfulness ?
In the current society, we are all taught that we need to follow rules and to succeed, and then our lives will be safe and perfect. When life doesn’t meet our expectations we suffer. It results that our desire for control and stability has taken away our freedom, our playfulness.
So, what is playfulness?
APA dictionary defines playfulness as: “n. the tendency to see the light or bright side of life, to joke with others and not to take matters too seriously. Playfulness is considered to be a foundation of humor.“
How then can we ‘recover’ our playfulness?
PLAYFULNESS & YOGA
The practice of yoga is a practice of playfulness.
Yoga invites us to explore our unknown sides, to engage with the mystery inside our worlds. When we enter a new yoga pose we enter a new shape. An inversion, for instance, is an opportunity to explore our being upside down. This new playful being opens up our minds and our hearts to learning and compassion and brings us to a place of pure joy.
As we open to ‘practice as play’ the opportunities for exploration become unlimited. Being playful stimulates us to be creative, and creativity enables us to channel different possibilities and to think of new ways of being, to find innovative ways to deal with change and transformations on a personal and global level, to acquire new perspectives, to learn, to expand.
So, my advice to you, do practice yoga :-)
If you are keen for exploration and want to allow your creative energy to bring your unique self in the world, I will be happy to see you in my online yoga classes for creativity :-)
PLAYFULNESS & ARTS
Playfulness generates novel combinations of thoughts and the consequences, as mentioned, can be highly creative. Playfulness is a key to creativity and it is the ground of communication in the unusual experience of Tete-a Tete Conversation – an online participatory performance by my dear friends from the artist duo DAY Collective.
Tete-a-Tete Online is an online participatory performance: an online meeting, during which 1-3 participants and 2 performers converse through drawing on themselves, in silence, using their own skin as a medium for a wordless conversation.
If you haven’t yet participated in this unique experience, you might find the courage to do so when you watch what DAY Collective’s members Yulia Ratman and Dorota Radzimirska think about playfulness and why they integrate it in their art projects.
Click on the video below to watch it :-)
The Artist Duo DAY COLLECTIVE on Playfulness in Life and Art
So why don’t we allow ourselves to be creative, to practice yoga, to practice arts, to practice playfulness & enjoy our being here and now in the world? I hope that with this short email I could inspire you to find the way to do that - maybe join my yoga class and get creative; or/and become an artist yourself participating in Tete-a-Tete Online.
Relax and just be :-)
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